Apparatus for making container closures



Aug. 1952 s; w. DENNIS 2,605,730

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES Original Filed Jan. 22, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 SjanZe Wllannis,

Aug. 5, 1952 s. w. DENNIS 2,605,730

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES Original Filed Jan. 22. 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 i "Illlbk 0 3% MW Awyzvam Aug. 5, 1952 s. w. DENNIS 2,605,730

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES Original Filed Jan. 22. 1947 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 5, 1952 s. w. DENNIS APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 22, 1947 0x WWW..-

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Aug. 5, 1952 s; w. DENNIS APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES 5 Sheets-Sheet- '5 Original Filed Jan. 22. 1947 m p w% a Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNITE SAT ATNT FFECE APPARATUS FOR MAKING CONTAINER CLOSURES Stanley W. Dennis, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York I Original application January 22, 1947, Serial No.

723,630, now Patent No. 2,497,870, dated Februany 21, 1950.

Divided and this application March 3, 1948, Serial No. 12,803

Claims.

as Patents 1,956,209, Reissue 19,422, 1,956,213,

1,956,214, 1,956,215 and 1,956,217. Certain features of the invention, however, as regards appa ratus for making the caps, have utility'and may be used in connection with caps of other types, as will be apparent from' the following description and the appended claims.

An object of the invention is to provide a cap of this type, which is partially preformed, in the sense that the top surface and a portion of the side wall or skirt are well defined and drawn or otherwise pressed to shape, prior to the application of the cap to the bottle, thereby eliminating the necessity of drawing, ironing, or otherwise forming a major portion of the closure skirt from a substantially flat blank, in position on the bottle or other container.

Another object of the invention is to provide preformed closures of this type, in accordance with which the nesting of a plurality of such closures in a stack will be accurately controlled,

by the structure of the closure itself, so that the closures will not stick and jam in the closure feeding mechanism, and will be delivered, one by one, to the capping mechanism in an improved manner.

A further object is to provide a preformed closure which may be deposited and centered upon the sealing bead of an associated container with greater facility than the substantially. flatdisc types previously used, and which will be retained thereon more securely against accidental displacement. Another object of the invention structural features in a closure of the type under consideration which materially increase the,

is to provide of controlling the nesting of a plurality of caps in a stack and increasing the stiffnessand strength of the cap.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a partially preformed closure of the type under consideration, in which theskirt is so formed as to facilitate deformation thereof in securing the closure to a bottle. Further, the invention aims to provide a closure having a cap skirt, which,

when locked in place on. a container, will pro-- vide a plurality of regular, evenly spaced, 'efi i cient, and neat appearing corrugations or crimps,

avoiding the unsightly, irregular, and inefiicient crimps which would be provided, were not' the structure of the present invention employed.

In accordance with the present invention, the horizontally extending flange, at the lower end of the preformed cap skirt is provided with a "pic ralityof corrugations, extending from the line of junction of the flange with the skirt, out

wardly to the outer margin of the flange, and these corrugations have special structural features, as explained below, which facilitate the final locking of the closure to the receptacle;

Another object of the invention is to provide improved machines for making closures'having the improved structural features described and claimed in the above mentioned patent, 2,497,870,

operation. That is to say, the invention provides:

an apparatus which cuts a blank from a sheet,

forms radial score lines in the marginalv portion of the blank, draws the top and skirt from the blank, forms a circumferential shoulder in'th'e skirt, forms a horizontally extending. flange, at

the lower edge of the skirt, and provides con-: trolled corrugations in the flange, between the score lines, all in a single operation.

Prior to the present invention, it was thought necessary to employ a separate operation, to shape the corrugations in such a flange, but the invention provides means for and a methodjof forming such corrugations simultaneously with" the drawing of the skirt.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of certain specific embodiments, shownin the acco ne. panying drawings for purposes of illustration.)

and described below.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan View of a cap in accordance with the invention.

Figurelisa side. elevation thereof Figure 3.11s a vertical; axial section of apa-ir of. such caps, in nested relation, in a stack.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary half-seer tion of the cap of Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is a similar section. of a; modified: form.

Figure 6 is an enlarged top plan View. of the flange of the cap.

Figure 7 is a somewhat diagrammatic, elflVaT!" Figures 8-10..

Fig-ure 12 is a plan view of. the draw die. Figure 1-3 is anaxial section of the: draw-die and-cutting die;

,Figure 14 ;is -a--greatly enlargedplan view of a fragmentary portion of, the upper face of. the I draw die.

v Figure 15 isa section. taken on line.- l5'--l5- of Figure 16; is anzelevationflookin from theleft. of Fig-uresd leanddfi a Thecapof; thepresentinvention may he made from a laminated sheet, consisting of: a. metal: layer .l 0: and a; paper. layer LL adhesively. united. thereto, as explained. in the-above mentioned. patenta, The can comprises a circular. top 2, a depending. skirt. t3, and a horizontally. extend.- ingfianga ML. The skirt. lh includes. an .upper,. rounded portion. I 5 shaped toconform closely to.- the' standard. cross-sectional curve of. the locking, beadlor finish formedjon milk bottles'offthe. type ofj'wlii'chthe caps of the above identified patents. are adapted to be usedi. The'skirt l3 also. im cludes a. lower, substantially cylindrical. portion l6} connected at itsupper' end to the upper p01"- tionfliby' a downwardlyand" outwardly'incli'nedi shoulder or offset portion H, extending continuously; circumferentially aroundtheskirt:

' At-itslower end, the skirt joins the flange M" along-' a circular 'circumferentially continuous, non-corrugated'line orcorner I 81 The flange I4 includes aplurality of her-i zontal radiall'y outwardly proj ecting straight line sections 22:, extendingfrom the line- 0f." junction: l t-with the: cap outwardly to the outer' marginiilll of" thesflange; 811K173; pluralitynfinteramediate corrugationsczt;v Itshculdibemotemthat the: corrugations are of'pro'gresslvely" incre'a sing:

depth from their; inner-ends; adiacent: theriline; of: junction: [8-, to their outer ends at theouter margin: H); of; thefia'nge; and are alsov of. pro-- gressi-vely increasing, width frcm-their. inner endsto-theirreuter= ends. Moreover, the-corrugations; each, project upwardly from the. plane of; the radial, straight line portion 22:01 thecapskirt.

Theofisetportion or. shoulder. H, between-the upperandlowen skirtsectionsr I E-and I fi periormslthe dual. function of. increasing. the stillness and. strength of the. skirt. or. side. wall. and control.- lingtlie. nesting ofa plurality. of' such caps, as indicat'edin Figure 3. The off'set; it maybe n0t'ed,.

as indicated by the space 25 (Figure 4), is at least equal to the thickness of the sheet material of which the cap is made.

The preformed corrugations. in. the .fiange l4 control the crimping of the flange, when the latter is forced downwardly beneath the locking shoulder of the associated container, with the result that the crimps are equally spaced, completely around. the cap and no areas of weakness, which might result from unduly widely spaced crimps, are formed. It will be understood that the; line of junction [8 between the flange and theshirtis-positioned substantially opposite to the line of maximum diameter of the locking head onthecontainer, and that the skirt [4 is termed under the" locking shoulder, during the application, of the closure, as explained in the above patents.

Thefbrm of closure shown in Figure 5 is similar to the one just described, and differs therefrom primarilyinathatlthe cap is made from a single layer of sheet metal in, instead of from. ailaminated, composite sheet of metal and paper. Insteadof usingan overall layer of paper to pro-- vide the sealing-contact with the bead surrounding the mouth of the container, a ring H of a latex composition, or other sealing compound, is employed. l he sealing material, while in fluid ccnditiom. is applied: tothe. interior of the cap, in

an; annular. layer, extending around the down- I witlrthe result thatthe-layer of sealing composition; I I in onecapis maintained out of contactwitheall portions of the-captherebelow, and the I caps in the stack havenotendency to'stick together while beingfedtma-capping machine.

Referring, to. Figures 7-16,. a preferred form ofv apparatus for. making the-closure ofthe present invention is. shown, somewhat diagrammatical= ly.. A- bed 30 may'serveas. a support for a plurality. of. die. assemblies, arranged in staggered:

, relation, in the. well. known manner.

Each. assemblycomprises. acircular cutting die 3i andacircular drawing. die 32, mounted. in

teriorly thereof, in fixed. posiition with respectthereto,. and. with its. upper surface spaced. below the circular cutting. edge 33 of. the cutting die. Withinthe drawing die. 32,. there ispositioned a knock-out spindleti. adapted-for vertical reciprocation under. the. con- (Figures El-lll'f'and" l3).

trol' ofia cam and l'ever mechanism. 36,. 31,.below.

the bed 30;, as is well understood in the sheet.

, blank outcircular discs when the punch descendsi The cutter punch 38fis'provided with aip'lan'e', annular lower face 413, adapted to clamp the marginal portion of the disc upon the upper surfaceof the d'ra'w'di'e, to act as a draw ring, as hereinafter explained.

A draw punch 4|, mounted for vertical move ment' interiorly" of: the cutter punch, 38; is threaded upon anv elongated shaft 42. having, its upper endconnect'ed to a vertically reciprocating. headcarrying a plurality of similar assemblies, arranged. in staggered relation, as-is well understood in the art.

The head 43 has a plurality oflaterally extending. guiding arms, embracing rods 49, hereinafter'd'escribe'd; and is connected by a pitman 4.4

to a crank or eccentric on the main drive shaft 45- of'the machine, the latter carrying a fly wheel 45, driven by a plurality of V-belts or the like from a suitable source of power. Vertical reciprocating movements are thus imparted to the head and the punches ll by rotation of the shaft 45.

The cutting punch 38 is connected to the lower end of a sleeve 41, surrounding the punch carrying shaft 4'2, and having its upper end clamped within the interior bore of a bracket 48, having arms provided with vertical bores embracing the vertically extending rods 49, the latterbeing carried at their upper ends by a cam following frame 50, and guided at their lower ends in suitable fixed socket elements 5!, or the like.

The cam following. frame comprises upper and lower horizontal members, upon which are mounted rollers 52. and 53, in engagement with a cam 54, fast on the shaft 45. Vertically extending rods 55, connecting the upper and lower members,are guides in hollow bosses 56 at the ends of stationary arms 51, carried by a heavy bridge member'fuii, connected to the main upstanding frames '59. of the machine. The upwardly extending portions of the vertical rods 55;above the fixed arms '5'! are connected by a cross-plate fill, having a central aperture loosely receiving an upstanding rod 5i carried by the bridge member 58, andabo'ut which 'a heavy coil compression spring 62 is held, confined between the bridge 58 and the plate 69 and exerting force in an upward direction upon the cam following frame, thereby serving in part at leastto counterbalance the weight of the frame and the other parts.

It will be understood that the relative movements of the sleeve 41 carrying the cutting die 38 and the shaft 42 carrying the draw punch 4| will be controlled by the shape of the cam 54 and its relation to the crank on the shaft 45.

The details of construction of the draw die and draw punch are of importance. The die 32 includes a circumferentially continuous drawing shoulder iii, and inner cylindrical drawing surface H, an inwardly projecting shoulder 72, and a cylindrical surface of reduced diameter l3. These surfaces cooperate with similar surfaces on the draw punch M. The latter includes a rounded end face 15, a cylindrical portion of reduced diameter 16, a shoulder 11, and an upper cylindrical portion of enlarged diameter 18. It will be apparent that these surfaces cooperate to form the rounded corner and upper. skirt portion 15 of the cap, the shoulder portion l1, and the lower skirt portion of enlarged diameter I6, as the draw punch forces the central portion of the disc into the draw die.

The upper end face of the draw die 32 includes a plurality (e. g. sixty) of radially extending upwardly projecting scoring ribs 89, spaced equally about the circumference thereof and extending from the outer margin ofthe die, inwardly a short distance, substantially equal to the distance of the radial contraction of the outer circumference of the blank during a drawing operation as hereinafter explained. at which point 8! the tops of the ribs are relieved, providing flats 82 disposed at the same elevation as the draw shoulder H3.

Intermediate the ribs 89, the u per face of the draw die 32 is cut away as at 83 to provide recesses having downwardly and outwardly inclined bottoms.

In accordance with the method of the present invention and during the operation of the apparatus just described, a blank of sheet metal or a laminated blank 'of metal and paper is'positionedabove the'cutting die 3|. As the combined cutter punch and draw ring 38 descends, it cuts out a circular disc of metal, between the cutting edges 33 and 39, and positionsthe same upon the upper face'of the draw die 32, withv the margin. thereof clamped. and somewhat scored along radial lines between the upper edges of the ribs 80 and the lower plane face 4!] of the cutter punch 38, in the position shown in Figure 8. The metal betweenthese radial lines of clamping is unconfinedin one axialdirection by the recesses 85, but is backedup in the other direction by-the plane end face 49 of the cutter punch. l

Next, thefdraw punch M descends and forces the central portion of the disc into the draw die 33, thereby forming the side wall 'or skirt of the closure, including the upper and lower portions l5 and I 6 andthe intermediate shoulder'll.

During this action, the marginal portion of theblank is drawn radially inwardly or contracted, and its circumference decreased, from the dotted line H) to the full line margin IQ of Figure 1. This circumferential contraction, with spaced radial scorelines confined between the ribs 53 and the adjacent plane'face 40 of the cutter punch, causes the metal in the portions between the lines of clamping to bend or buckle into the recesses 83, since these portions are prevented from moving in the other direction by the continuous plane end face of the cutter punch. Asthe contraction continues, the projection into the recesses 83 likewise continues, until, at the completion of the operation, the corrugations 23 are formed. and the margins of the flange move Sarto the relieved portions or flats 82 of the ribs Thus, theflange of the skirt is regularly and evenly corrugated, without employing a separate operation to stamp the hills and valleys therein.

' Itwill be appreciated that mating flutes corresponding to the desired corrugations could not be formedon the upper and lower surfaces of the cutter punch and draw die, respectively, since such flutes on the cutter punch would make it substantially impossible to sharpen the cutting edge 3ii'thereof. The present invention, therefore, provides a method of and means for forming regular, even; controlled corrugations in a cap flange, as an incident to a cap drawing operation, and in the absence of a special punching or pressing operation.

At the conclusion of the cap drawing and flange corrugating operation, just described, the draw punch 3! and the cutter punch 38 are raised,.in seouence or simultaneously, and the knock-out spindle 35 is then moved upwardly, to remove the completed cap from the draw die 32. In machines but includes all modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for making a container closure having a top, a depending skirt and an outwardly projecting corrugated flange at the lower 7. edge-thereof,comprising a pair of: annular mem-' bers adaptedto clampthe'marginal portiorr of-v acircular'blank: therebetwe'en; one member having aplanesurfaceengag'ing;one-surface of said:marginalaportion and' the other? having; a continuous, uninterrupted, circular, internal draw shoulder and'a-nzend face shaped: to provide a plurality of circumferentiallyt spaced; radial; clampingi and scoring ribs engaging correspondingly spaced: radial lines of? the iother surfaoe of said" marginal. portion, and intermediate recesses; and means for simultaneously drawing thec'entralzportionfof: the disc? axially over said should'e'r and contractin'gi saidamarginal portionradially t0lfb1m1th8' 't'dp skirt and flange of the closure, said radialLcon traction serving: to: buckle" the marginal; portion intosaidrecesses' between the-score lines toform? corrugations in the flange;

2: An apparatus for making: a container: clotsure h'aving a; circular-"top, ai dependingski'rt and 2;- radia'lly' extending: flange at the lower edge thereof; comprising an annular draw die having; acontinuous; uninterrupted circular internali drawingshoulder; acylindrical draw surface: inward-1y thereof and a radiallyoutwardly ex-tend ing': endface adapted to support acircular blank, said face adjacent the circumference" thereof be ing' shapedto provide'a' plurality of circumferentiallyspaced} radially extending ribs and intermediate-recessessaid: ribs having their inner end portions at" the same elevation as and mergingwith said continuous drawing shoulder; an annular member havingvaplane radialiiace adaptedto clamp the marginal portionot the blank-upon said ribs and. a draw punch for forcing the central portion of t-he-blank into the draw die andsimultaneously to contractthe marginal portion of the blank radially and to force the portionsthereof intermediate the ribs into said recesses, to form upwardly deflected corrugations inthe flange.

3. A draw die for use inmaking, container closures,.comprising a continuous, uninterrupted annular, internal draw shouldenan interior, cylindrical draw surface and a radially extending end face comprising a plurality of axially projecting, circumferentially spaced, radially extending ribs having the. radially inner endportions of their tops, at substantially the elevation of',.and merging with said shoulder, andv arplurality of intermediate. recesses, having. their. bottoms tapering.-

8. downwardly and outwardly from said shoulder..

4.; AdraW-die for use in-mak-ing container. clo sures, comprising a continuous, uninterrupted. annular, internal drawshoulder, an interior, cylindricaldraw' surface and a radially extend-- ing end-face comprising aplurality otaxially'projectin'g; circumferentially spaced ribs extending radially: outwardly substantially from .saidshoul-* der to-theouter circumference of the endface;v

1 said ribsi having: their tops at substantially theelevationof said shoulder, throughout an. inner portion: oi: theirilengths and ate, higher elevation: adjacent the; periphery of said face;v and; intermediate: recesses between the ribs having;

= bottoms inclined downwardly: and outwardly from the shoulder towardsaid periphery;

5. An apparatus for-making container closures, comprising a cutting die having an: internalan nular cutting" edge, .a' draw die having an end face positioned axially inwardly from said edge, and? a draw punch cooperating with said draw die; said draw" die comprising a continuous, uninterrupted: annular draw shoulder, a' pair of cylindrical in:- ternal drawingv surfaces of difierent diameters= connected by an intermediate shoulder, and a radially extending end face comprising a plurality of". axially projecting, circumferentially' spaced; radially extending ribs having the inner endsof their tops at the same elevation asaand merging with, said shoulder, and a pluralityofintermediate'recesses havingtheir bottoms merging. with said shoulder at their inner ends and1in1- clined' downwardly and: outwardly, said draw? punch having a pair of externaldrawingsurfaces of different diameters connected by an inter mediateshoulder;

- STANLEY W; DENNIS.

REFERENGES CITED:

The'following references are of" record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

